Custom fields are additional fields that allow you to enhance sessions, items, exhibitors, or people profiles with tailored fields for preferences, interests, or any other important information.
When you create an Exhibitor, you are prompted to fill in several default fields: Name, Description, Website, Social Media, etc.
To add specific information relevant to your event, you can create custom fields.
As an Organizer, you can either fill these fields yourself for each Exhibitor or leave the task for Exhibitors to complete.
Learn more about managing custom fields here.
How to create custom fields for Exhibitor profiles
When you create an Exhibitor, you are prompted to fill in several fields by default: Name, Description, Website, Social Media, etc. However, if you would like to add specific information that are relevant to your event, you can create Custom fields.
Go into the Studio,
Go to Content ➡️ Exhibitors ➡️Exhibitors Settings.
Click on Create Custom Field,
4. Define the Label (how the custom field will appear on the Exhibitor's page).
5. Choose a Format from the dropdown menu.
Short text: for brief entries.
Long text: for longer entries.
Multiple texts: for multiple text entries.
Single choice: for selecting one option from a list (e.g., Country or City).
Multiple choices: for selecting multiple options from a list (e.g., Group member status or Proficiencies).
URL: for links, such as Websites or LinkedIn profiles.
Number: for numerical entries.
Date: for date entries.
File: PDF (.pdf), Word Documents (.doc, .docx), PowerPoint Presentations (.ppt, .pptx), Images (.png, .jpg)
To ease the workload of event organizers, we prove ready-to-use custom fields that can be seamlessly integrated into your event setup process.
Pre-filled custom fields available:
“Country” (single choice) and "Countries" (multiple choices)
Automatically includes a comprehensive list of countries.
Eliminates the need for manual entry, ensuring accuracy and saving time.
"Industry Sectors" (single choice)
Offers a detailed list of various industry sectors.
Customizable to suit specific event themes or focus areas.
As an Organizer, you can choose to fill in this field yourself for each Exhibitor or leave that task for your Exhibitors to complete.
Plus, values are automatically translated according to the event languages enabled. The supported languages for this feature are: en, fr, de, es, it, pt, zh, and ja.
How to define the parameters of custom fields
Once the Custom field has been created, you have to set the parameters of this field by defining the following aspects:
Sections
The section in which the field will appear on the company profile. By default, Custom fields are listed in the Information section. You can leave them in this section or create a new section by clicking on Create a section.
Properties
Visible on the Event Pages: if it's enabled, the custom field will be visible on the Exhibitor's profile page, ensuring important information is easily accessible to event participants, promoting better interaction and engagement with exhibitors
Visible on the Community Pages: if enabled, the custom field will appear on the Community page. It provides consistency and visibility across different levels of interaction within the community, enhancing the overall user experience.
Editable by the user: when this property is enabled, the field is editable by exhibitors' members and cannot be filled via an integration.
You can provide a description of the type of content that should be added here as well as define a limit of choices. Allowing exhibitors to edit this field ensures that the information is up-to-date and accurate. This flexibility empowers exhibitors to manage their profiles effectively, keeping information current and relevant.
Included in the search results: when this property is enabled, the values of this field are taken into account in the search. Be careful not to activate it on many fields, as the results will lose relevance.
Decide if the fields should be used for AI recommendations. Recommendations are based on the information added into the Swapcard database: People, Sessions, Exhibitors, Items, and their respective custom fields are matched with each other and also used to find similar People/Products/Exhibitors/Sessions of interest.
Values
As briefly explained before, if the field format is set as Single choice or Multiple choices you will have the option to predefine values, which will limit Exhibitors in the data they can enter, as opposed to a free text field, such as the Short text, Long text and Multiple texts formats.
To do this, click on Add Value, enter the first value option you would like to create, and click on the green check button. Repeat this step for all the values that you'd like to list for that field.
You can also change the order in which the Custom field appears by dragging and dropping each value using the following icon, right next to the value field:
How to populate custom fields for each Exhibitor
Now that you have created a Custom field, it must now either be filled by you for each Exhibitor, or left empty for Exhibitors to do it themselves – in which case we recommend you to inform Exhibitors in advance that they will have to complete such task. If you choose to do it yourself as the Organizer, you have three options to complete that task:
Via a synchronization
You can use this Custom field in your registration tool to import Exhibitors into your event.Using our Excel template
Go to Data ➡️ Exhibitors.
Click on "Add Exhibitors" and select "Import via an Excel file."
Download the Excel template. Custom fields will create new columns in the template, marked with (custom) in the heading.
Fill in the data for each Exhibitor in the appropriate columns and save the file.
Import the file into the Studio.
Each new Custom field will basically create a new column in the Excel template, after the M column. These columns can easily be identified with the inclusion of (custom) in the heading. Each column and cell can be filled with the data for each Exhibitor, and once fully entered, the Excel file must be saved and imported into the Studio.
When you enter the data, it's important that you respect the format you initially selected when creating the Custom field. For example, if you chose the Single choice format, you should insert only one value per Exhibitor – otherwise, an error message will be displayed when you try to import the file.
Manually in the Studio
Go to Data ➡️ Exhibitors.
Click on "Add Exhibitors" and select "Create manually."
Enter the Exhibitor's name and click "Create."
Fill in the custom field with the relevant data at the bottom of the page.
At the bottom of the page, the Custom field will be listed with an empty field that you will be able to fill with the relevant data.
Custom fields are a powerful tool for adding specific, relevant information to Exhibitor profiles, enhancing the event experience for both organizers and attendees. Whether you fill in these fields yourself or delegate the task to Exhibitors, custom fields provide flexibility and precision in managing exhibitor information.
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